Originally Posted by
AdamPanama
... Copa is a different matter. They must be the most incompetently run airline in the Americas, except perhaps for Avianca. I'm sorry to say it, because I am Panamanian, but it's a fact. When there is any irregularity with a Copa Ticket, the best thing to do is to just anul the reservation, if it's possible, because asking their employees to do something sensible, and to do it right, is like drawing blood from a stone. They are not empowered to do anything other than politely answer your questions with a standard rote answer. ...
Copa is actually a very well-run company, as evidenced by its profitability, long history, and excellent punctuality. Copa's problem is the same problem one sees in businesses all over Latin America, which you described in the bolded text above: For a variety of reasons, companies/employers simply don't trust their employees to make decisions. That's frustrating enough in a restaurant or shoe store, but it can lead to huge and seemingly inexplicable inconveniences with an airline. It makes no sense that a Copa airport agent can't issue a ticket when the cardholder is standing there with the credit card and valid ID, but this sort of thing probably happens thousands of times per day across the region. If the situation isn't explicitly in the person's job description, they either can't or won't do it.